Wednesday, December 3, 2014

MY SECRET LIFE "Quicksand Romance"

Here's a preview of our big Valentine's Day project for 2015...
...a retrospective of the romance comics work of legendary "good girl" artist Wally Wood!
Best-known as a horror and sci-fi artist with a penchant for illustrating beautiful women, Wally Wood's early output had quite a bit of romance comics work, much of it not seen since first publication, like this story from Fox's My Secret Life #25 (1950).
BTW, the reason the first page is only black and magenta is that it's the inside cover of the comic.which was printed in only two of the four colors used on the front/back covers and interiors of books as a cost-saving measure.
(Most publishers just used black ink and no color on inside covers to save even more money!)
And, since it was done before the Comics Code Authority eliminated most adult-level content in comics after the juvenile delinquency scare of the 1950s, the subject matter was on the level of the b-movies of the era, often a bit hard-edged and tawdry.
Through January and February we'll be running a series of these never-reprinted tales taken directly from the original comics!
Next week:
We haven't decided yet what it'll be, but we can guarantee that...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
(Oh, you've heard that, eh?)

And now a word from out sponsor...

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

ROSIE ROMANCE "Seeking Her Knight in Shining Armor"

Before it became the province of little kids (6-13) in the 1960s...
..."teen humor" was also popular not only with with older kids (13-18), but both sexes!
In fact, there were male-oriented teen humor titles, like Hillman's Joe College, from which this never-reprinted story was taken.
Note: the male characters in the book, including the title character, Housedate Harry, and Boola Boola Jones, fare no better.
They're all portrayed as obsessed idiots, who, if they achieve anything, it's through blind luck!
Sadly, the creator(s) of this strip are unknown.
Next week:
We haven't decided yet what it'll be, but we can guarantee that...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
(Oh, you've heard that, eh?)

And now a word from out sponsor...

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

REACH FOR HAPPINESS Episode 3 Part 2

The sordid past of Rita Phillips, now engaged to the respectible Dr Gregory Marsh, comes back to haunt her when her sleazy former boyfriend/manager, Ray Silva, tracks her down...
Yes Greg...how could you?
We Will Return to Danville Corners...soon!
But, next week:
We don't know what we'll present, but we guarantee...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
(Oh, you've heard that, eh?)
BTW: This chapter of "Reach for Happiness" from Secret Hearts #112 (1966) was written by Jack Miller, penciled (and probably inked) by Gene Colan.
And now a word from out sponsor...

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

REACH FOR HAPPINESS Episode 3

We return to the longest-running soap-opera in comics with another never-reprinted chapter of the serial...
Well, isn't somebody just too, too sophisticated for simple sentimentality?
But Lila and Roger have bigger problems than cliches on cake...as we shall see...
Next Week...
More secrets revealed!
 We can guarantee that...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
(Oh, you've heard that, eh?)
BTW: This chapter of "Reach for Happiness" from Secret Hearts #112 (1966) was written by Jack Miller, penciled (and probably inked) by Gene Colan.
And now a word from out sponsor...

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

MY CONFESSION "My Tarnished Reputation"

Appropriately, after witnessing a return to 1940-50s politics...
 ...we're presenting a tale of 1940s-50s sexual politics!
This torrid tale from Fox's My Confession #8 (1949) was one of the earliest illustration assignments for young Wally Wood, who would quickly become one of the most famous artists in the field due to his work on sci-fi and horror illustrating monsters, aliens, and, yes, beautiful women.
The writer is unknown.
Next week:
We haven't decided yet what it'll be, but we can guarantee that...
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!
(Oh, you've heard that, eh?)

And now a word from out sponsor...